Social Justice

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation always places a central focus on the principles of Social Justice within its projects. Since the opening of the Libya Office in 2018, FES has implemented a large number of seminars and studies in partnership with different Libyan organizations. The most important of these partnerships are with the General Federation of Libyan Syndicates (GULS) and the Washem Center for Women Studies:

Trade unions in Libya:

Since its establishment in 1925, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation has always been keen to support trade unions and solidarity among workers worldwide. For this reason, FES’ first project in Libya was to seek a close partnership with the Federation of Trade Unions in Libya and support their work. Before the Libyan Revolution of 2011, the role of trade unions was always subject to state control. This meant that they were unable to freely perform their important work in protection workers rights. After 2011 trade unions were able gain a larger degree of freedom and established a federation to defend the rights of workers on a national scale. Since this time, they carried out a large number of joint activities with great importance for the future of worker’s rights in Libya. FES partnered with the union to organize numerous conferences and dialogue sessions with Arab and international experts on workers’ rights and the laws that protect these rights. In partnership with GULS, the foundation reviewed the new labor law proposed to the Libyan House of Representatives and gave them a set of recommendations and proposals that are in the interest of both Libyan and foreign and migrant workers in Libya.

FES has conducted a number of workshops for members of the Federation of Libyan Trade Unions, most notably:

• Leadership workshops for young leaders in the Libyan trade unions for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020
• Training workshops for members of the largest sectoral trade union in Libya, the Teachers Union
• A number of young leaders of Libyan trade unions participated in annual regional conferences organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation

The Foundation maintains this valuable partnership, and the support continues by supporting campaigns of the Federation of Trade Unions in order to disseminate their work, educate workers on their rights, and encourage them to join trade unions and discuss the importance of unions for a just and prosperous future of Libya by ensuring rights and social justice for everyone.

Washem Center for Women Studies:

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation, in partnership with the Center, conducted a study on social security laws in Libya. This study generally reviews social security laws and the status of women in these laws. Moreover, the Foundation held dialogue sessions to discuss the outcomes of the study.